McDuffie hit back-to-back threes extending Kearny's lead to 25-12 midway through the second quarter. He hit his final shot from above the arc, giving the Komets an 11-point advantage with 5:50 remaining.

“I was determined to do whatever I could to help us get that (league) banner,” McDuffie said. “Really, I'm just overwhelmed right now.”

Kearny's reserves also earned a 12-6 rebounding edge.

“Our bench guys did a huge job for us,” Bronson said. “They gave us life. They gave us energy just a fabulous effort by those guys.”

A pair of Bidart free throws pulled Christian to within 47-41 with 1:54 left. But the Patriots could draw no closer as buckets by Manny Ortiz and Marvin Oloya sealed the deal for Kearny.

“We've known from day one that if we play as a team we can compete with anybody,” Kearny senior point guard Kendrick Hester said. We did an OK job on offense, but we knew the key to beating Christian is stopping No. 34 (Bidart).”

Considering Bidart had more than twice as many points as any player on the floor, turns out the Komets did a decent job of containing rather than blanketing the Patriots' point-maker.

“You know he's going to get his, so I guess the key is making sure nobody else gets anything,” Bronson said. “We didn't do a very good job of denying him the ball tonight, but then, we didn't let anybody else beat us.”

Bidart connected on eight of 16 shots from the field and eight of nine free throws.